Press Release: The rights of the child: Third European Forum on the rights of the child and the award ceremony for the competition ‘I have a right to protection’

The third European Forum on the rights of the child, which took place on 9 December, 2008, will look at the question of children's participation in the making of the policies that affect them and the issue of violence against children. The winners of the 2008 competition entitled 'I have a right to protection' received their prizes: this year the first prizes in the two age groups went to an Italian team and a Maltese team. The competition, organised by the Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security, was an opportunity for nearly 40 000 young people from all over Europe, aged between 10 and 18, to work on producing 8 000 posters on the theme of children's right to protection within the European Union.